


Fate

by TrickWithATwist



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: At least he has the hips to pull it off, Bartre isn't good at interpreting things, Dueling, Emotional Constipation, F/M, Karla isn't good at feeling things, duel, maid outfit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 09:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15070403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrickWithATwist/pseuds/TrickWithATwist
Summary: Bartre demands another duel with Karla late at night when no one else will be up to interupt them; Karla accepts, however, she is unaware of the trick Bartre has up his sleeve. Will Bartre finally win one of their encounters?





	Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> https://open.spotify.com/track/6bJGULOowvaqs5t1VSuDCw?si=aFx3yyFORXOkTpyUWSbHKg

She was used to Bartre demanding to duel with her; it had become routine ever since the warrior had first challenged her back in that one colosseum. However, Karla still struggled with understanding why that man was so deadset on defeating her in combat, or for that matter, why she still kept agreeing to duel WITH him to begin with.

These fights filled her with particularly conflicting feelings. On one hand, she abhored purposeless fights like these; the swordswoman had only learned the art of the blade so she could persue and help her brother after all. Yet still, she kept accepting his offers to duel. Karla had not lost to him even once so far in over half a dozen duels, and while he was steadily improving, his overconfidence and lack of restraint would always be his downfall against her; she was confident she could always beat him, which made their duels even less meaningful than they normally would be, as now they even lacked the right to be referred to as "training exercises."

Despite all of that, time and time again she accepted his duelling invitations, inconviencing herself on nights such as these by disrupting her sleep schedule, just to fight against this fool...none of it made any sense to her, and the more her mind wrestled with itself, searching for an answer, the further she felt from one.

 

Bartre scratched at his stockings as he walked to the enclosing. His maid uniform was way too tight on him, and had already ripped in several spots in the short distance he had walked, particularly on the sleeves; Bartre wasn't the type to give up easily, yet even he knew those damn things were beyond salvaging, so he had ripped them off, leaving both his arms exposed.

It had taken quite some time during one of the army's visits to a town to find a maid outfit, let alone doing so subtlely, since being quiet and nonchalant was...far from one of his strengths. Still, tonight was going to be it; the night he would defeat Karla. And that was a good enough reason for him to have gone to all of this trouble.

About three marches ago, he had overheard a bit of conversation between Lady Lyn's two knights; the green one was going on and on about how distracting it was to attempt to aim a lance when a woman was wearing something as...Bartre stopped to remember the word he had used; something like stu...stoopanthis? Eh, the word he used didn't matter too much; what mattered was that he was an experienced fighter, but had been distracted by a maid outfit. Bartre had the brilliant idea, that since Karla was a warrior, that she'd surely be distracted by it too, which would give him the perfect opportunity to catch her off guard, just as her outfit had done to him in their first fight.

It was a perfect plan, the warrior thought to himself, a confident grin on his mouth as he scratched at his chafing ass.

 

Karla started to tap her foot impatiently; the oaf was taking longer than usual. She stood up and began to pace, equal parts worried and frustrated. The sword princess would be quite upset to find out something had happened to him on his way to their meeting, but...no, it was impossible to kill him. He was the most headstrong man she had ever met; to even humor the idea that any force could kill that warrior would be extremely foolish.

Suddenly, a hearty laugh came from the brush on the opposing side of the clearing. Karla turned her head to face it, hand on her sword, ready to draw it immediately if necessary.

"BAHAHAHA! TONIGHT, YOU WILL BE DEFEATED BY THE AXE OF BARTRE THE BRAVE, DEMON!"

"Hmph...I see you have arrived finally; then let us waste no time. Draw your........"

Bartre had stepped into the clearing as the swordswoman spoke, revealing the entirity of his ensemble to her for the first time. Her voice caught in her throat as a light flush covered her cheeks.

"PAHAHA! WHAT'S WRONG, NOT PREPARED TO FACE ME?!"

"............"

"...Demon?"

"......................"

"Grrr...FINE THEN! HERE I COME!"

Bartre lunged at her, swinging his axe vertically over his head. Karla swiftly side stepped to her right before jumping, successfully predicting Bartre horizontal swing to the left; he always started off their duels with that, so it was hardly a prediction so much as it was a certainty. She charged forward with a lunge aimed at his right shoulder. Bartre shifted his body to his left as he pulled his axe back in close against against him, trying to catch Karla in the pull back. The warrior ducked down below it before kicking her legs out, swiping at Bartre's right leg with them, knocking the warrior off balance onto his back. Bartre landed with a flomp as his outfit crinkled against the dirt. Karla pointed her blade at his neck as she put one foot on his chest.

"Yield."

"...pah."

Bartre loosened his grip on the axe and let it fall out of his hand onto the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, however, Karla cut him off.

"Why are you wearing this ridiculous outfit?"

"It's none of your business, you damn devil!"

"Tell. Me. Immediately."

Her brow tightened into a scowl; Bartre hadn't seen her look so angry before in any of their past encounters, to the point where seeing such an expression on her was genuinely distressing...Bartre swallowed hard as he spoke.

"I...overheard two knights talking, and one talked about how much difficulty he had aiming his lance when he saw an opponent in a maid outfit. I...I guess that only applies to warriors that use lances..."

"So you attempted to defeat me through trickery?"

"It isn't like that, demon! I wore this because it evened the playing field!"

"...and what exactly are you insinuating with that?"

"I...w-well, um....that's....."

Karla looked down at her attire. She didn't see anything of particular note; she supposed her legs might be a trite too exposed, however, it allowed for her to have a greater range of movement with her legs, which was immensely important to her fighting style...the princess supposed it was at least some comfort he hadn't done it to take what he had percieved as the "easy way," however, the whole encounter was still leaving her heart beating far too rapidly, despite the match being one of their shorter ones, since the bear had lacked any of the armor he normally wore that he'd use to shrug off some of her strikes...

"I...Demon, I..."

Bartre hesitated for a moment as he swallowed hard again before resuming.

"...I'm sorry."

"..."

"I...I just want to keep doing this; don't stop dueling with me because of this, p-...ple-.....please?"

Karla fell silent as she considered his plea. She turned her head back to face the oaf as she spoke.

"I have three. conditions."

"Pah..."

"When we walk back to the camp and you change back into your normal clothing, you will give me that maid outfit. The next time we go into a town to stock up on supplies, I will make a list of supplies you will need to purchase for me so I can make the appropriate adjustments to the outfit so it fits. Finally-"

"I-I can't do that!"

"...and why not, exactly?"

"I...can't read."

"..."

"STOP JUDGING ME YOU DAMN DEMON; I NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND I'VE BEEN HARD AT WORK SINCE I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO!!"

"...then I have four conditions."

"F-Four!?"

"I will accompany you on said trip then and help you find the exact materials I will need. The third condition is that we will have nightly literacy lessons, where I will teach you how to read."

"I...you'd really do that for me?"

"...Yes, I suppose I am willing and wanting to help educate you."

"I...Why the hell don't you make any sense!?"

"Do you agree to the conditions thus far?"

"ANSWER ME BEFORE ASKING YOUR OWN QUESTION!"

"...Do. You. Agree. To. The. Conditions. Thus. Far?"

"...fine. Just tell me what the fourth condition is so I can be forced into that one too..."

Karla shut her eyes as she spoke.

"...from now on, all of our duels will require that you be dressed in this maid outfit."

"WHY DO YOU MAKE NO SENSE!"

"..."

"FIRST YOU YELL AT ME FOR WEARING THIS DAMN OUTFIT, AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME TO KEEP WEARING IT WHEN WE DUEL!?"

"...the issue was not that you wore the outfit; it's the fact the outfit does not fit you. If you truly believed that wearing this outfit would make duels between us even, then I will ensure that the outfit truly does; your movement was limited and stiff during that duel due to the restraints the outfit put on your shoulders and especially your legs. I do not want to have another duel as one sided as this one."

"....."

".....do you accept those conditions?"

"...So I'll get to keep dueling you, and learn how to read if I agree?"

"Yes."

Bartre shut his eyes for a moment before he erupted with laughter.

"I WOULD NEVER GIVE UP A CHANCE TO CONTINUE OUR DUELS! BAHAHAHA! I'LL EVEN WEAR THIS DAMN OUTFIT IF IT MEANS WE CAN KEEP SPARRING!" 

"Good. Well then, we should be-"

"Hey wait! I need to know something!"

"...what?"

"What the hell do you need those materials for!?"

"...to prepare that maid outfit, of course."

"And how the hell are you going to do that?"

"My family wished for me to avoid the path of the blade when I was a young girl; as such, I am quite adept at sewing, so adjusting and repairing the outfit should not be too difficult."

"Ah, right...I had forgotten."

"You what?"

"N-Nothing!"

"...did you forget I am a woman?"

"Well...it.....yes."

"How?"

"...When we first met, I saw you as a beautiful woman, but as we dueled and have dueled since, I've seen you as the greatest warrior I've ever met..."

"..."

"...that was dumb, wasn't it?"

"...no."

"But-"

"Bartre. I will train even harder from now on, to live up to the expectations you have of me. Now, let's go."

Karla stepped off of his chest and began to walk off back to the camp.

"I...Man I sounded like a stupid idiot! Wauuuugghhhhhh! I'M ON MY WAY KARLA!"


End file.
